Sljslj

It's good to see that a fairly large portion of MB doesn't smoke.

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TheCunningStunt

It is, but loads of them do hard drugs.. So...

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Zer0

Yeah kids don't smoke it's bad for you. Lol one of my friends is always telling me to stop smoking, but he lives on Coca-Cola, chocolate cake and chicken fillets and plays video games endlessly, so my lifestyle is probably healthier than his.

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VEGANGELICA

Ouch! I always feel sorry for kids whose parents smoke, since even people who smoke outside carry into the house the carcinogens and other toxins that result in children having more lung issues.

So we non-smokers have an excuse to come in and say, "Kids! Don't smoke! It's bad for you!!!!"

Even a few smokers join in...

But Zero, coffee and cake rarely kill! Chicken fillets kill, but hopefully not too many people...though the chickens aren't so lucky.

I always worry about all you smokers. Someone I know of at work who smoked just died two days ago at age 35 from cancer. It was very sad. He had two little kids. I just don't understand why anyone would do something harmful to themselves, knowing of the risks to themselves and others. I guess addiction changes your cost-benefit analysis of smoking?

So, why DO you smokers smoke? Why did you start? I try to get as far away from cigarette smoke as I can. I can't imagine ever putting a cigarette in my mouth or wanting to.

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Zer0

I started the same way as most people really, being a teenager and surrounded by friends that smoked, giving into peer pressure and doing it just to be 'cool' i guess. Now i'm in my early 20's and i'd really like to kick the habit now so i won't be smoking for life but it's not exactly that easy. Smoking when out drinking is the big thing though, cigarettes and beer just go so well together. It's just a hard habit to kick.

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VEGANGELICA

Thanks for answering, Zero. I think you are very right that smoking is a very hard habit to kick for most people. One of my aunts who has smoked her whole life developed breast cancer and wanted to quit then, but she *still* couldn't get herself to do so, even after trying patches and all sorts of things. A person I talked with once online said that 25 years after quitting, he still smoked in his dreams!

I wonder sometimes if people who smoke perhaps think life should feel really fun and pleasant or stressfree, or expect themselves to be in a good mood, so it is hard to face the physical and psychological effects of withdrawal, which I hear are pretty bad.

I imagine that quitting does involve avoiding the situations that make one fall into old habits. It's funny though, how people are different, because I absolutely hate the taste of beer (and wine), so I'd never want to combine beer and smoking! It sounds like your fun night out would be my nightmare!

I like your post-it notes, by the way.

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TheCunningStunt

Why? My mum has smoked all my life, but she's always refused to smoke in the house so she's always stood at the back door to do so. My Uncle however... smokes no matter who's there.

It's just about being a good parent really.

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VEGANGELICA

I had a grandma like your uncle. When she died, I wasn't sad at all. She was sometimes a nasty, self-centered, barb-tongued woman who belittled my mom and my dad, and was even worse when she drank.

In answer to your question about why smoking outside the house doesn't protect children from the harms of secondhand smoke:

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TheCunningStunt

I love my Uncle loads, but he's a bit of an inconsiderate wanker at times. But meh, his house his rules I guess...

Your grandma sounds a bit mean.

Yeah, that study means AWAY from their kids. I.E when their kids are upstairs, they smoke downstairs. My mumsy has always blown the smoke outside.

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VEGANGELICA

I would never visit your uncle then or take a child there. If someone consistently does something that hurts me in pursuit of her or his own selfish pleasure, I just don't develop much love for that person.

And yes, my grandma was sometimes nasty and cruel. Not as bad as one of MY uncles, though. Even as a child, I think we hated each other. He was a smoker AND a hunter AND a racist. Now he's very ill though, which is too bad.

The study on kids exposed indirectly to smoke included mostly families in which no one ever smoked in the house: "Indirect exposure group (17 households): the mother smoked every day; all cigarettes were NOT smoked in the same room or in a car with an infant. In 14 of these 17 households, all cigarette smoking was done outside the house."

The study should have been improved by separating the indirect exposure group into two groups: those whose moms, like yours, smoked only outside the house, and those whose moms smoked inside the house but not in the same room as the children.

I agree that is a flaw in the study, but it still suggests that children such as yourself (when you were a child) whose moms smoked outside the house ended up with exposure to smoke and its harmful effects.

"Mumsy." That is so cute! I always wonder why we say mom instead of "mum" over here in the U.S.

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